Day 4: September 21, 2001
Cathedral Rock & drive through SW Colorado foliage

Today we planned to hike to Cathedral Rock in the morning and then head up to Monument Valley in northern Arizona and then wind up somewhere on our way to Telluride, Colorado. We got a nice early start (not that common for us), and we made our way from Flagstaff down to Sedona by around 9:30am. We had bought a book about trails in the Sedona & Flagstaff area by someone named Cosmic Ray, if you can believe that, and it described the Cathedral Rock trail.

Cathedral Rock Trailhead

It started from a trailhead not far out of Sedona, and it was .7 miles, pretty much straight up. When we got to the trailhead, we found yet again that they required a Red Rock Trail Pass to park there, but we'd never seen anyplace where you could get one, and you can't get one there at the trailhead. We figured we wouldn't be there very long, so we took our chances. Walendo had wavered on whether to go with me (using Libby as his excuse, which was pretty flimsy considering how she started whining and pacing in the back with excitement about another hike). So I think he pretty much got shamed into joining me. :-) He decided to come with me some of the way, at least, and see how it went.

Cathedral Rock

I had seen so many pictures taken of Cathedral Rock with a wide river in the foreground and I was hoping to find that spot. As it turned out, they must have been taken from some other spot. The trail to Cathedral Rock goes directly up to the giant rock formation and there's not a drop of water to be found. As we started to get closer, I suggested to Walendo that we not climb up it but walk around it on a trail that circled around the base partway up. I wanted a view of Cathedral Rock, not the view from it.

Cactus from above

We headed in the direction that would give us a better view of the more distinctive part of the rock, and I took lots of shots with interesting cactus in the foreground. As cool as they are to see, pictures of these giant rock formations just by themselves are not that interesting. We poked around some more and then Walendo headed back while I stayed for a few more shots. The sun was really hot, so even though we were basically walking on flat ground, we got thirsty quickly. On my way back, I took a closeup looking straight down on one of those spikey cactuses, and I'll be interested to see how it comes out.

Cathedral Rock & cactus

A 36-roll of film later, I walked back down to the car. It was nice to get in a little exercise and a bunch of pictures first thing in the day. Now it was time to head on our way to the next spot. While driving through Sedona, we stopped once so I could get something to eat while Walendo waited in the car, and I ended up getting us two sandwiches. I ate part of mine right then, and then saved the rest for later to eat together.

On the drive back up to Flagstaff, Walendo remembered that we needed to get an oil change on the truck, so while driving through Flagstaff we looked for an oil change place. Walendo spotted a lube shop so we stopped and they took us right away. The price seemed about the same as in the Bay Area. While waiting for the car, we saw a three-car rear-end collision. The cops came quickly and they cleared it away. I was glad we hadn't gotten into any accidents -- not fun on a vacation. Also while waiting, a woman came up to us to say hello to Libby. It turned out she lived at the Grand Canyon, so I asked her about trips she'd recommend, but she ended up not saying much other than that there are a lot of hiking trails around. We quickly got on the subject of having a dog at a National Park, and she agreed it is dumb that they don't allow them. She said many of the people who work there have dogs, so they take them to certain places where they have an agreement that they won't get ticketed. It's such a drag that they don't allow dogs, sigh.

We made a couple more stops on our way through Flagstaff, once at the Fry's (grocery store, not computer store) to replenish our drink supply and to get ice, and then to take a quick shot of the hotel where we stayed last night. (We somehow manage to forget to do that a lot.) Then we were on our way, going north on 89A, and then heading east toward Monument. The terrain is fairly woodsy for a while, but then in becomes more desert like and opens up into huge plains with ragged rock formations in the distance. We listened to Angle of Repose as we drove.

Lunch spot near Tuba City, AZ

After driving an hour or so, we stopped at a pretty area near Tuba City that looks just like the painted hills to have lunch. It was hot and dry with no shade, so we just stayed in the car while we ate. We continued on for another hour or so until we came to Kayenta, the town where you turn to go to Monument. We filled up and then went the 20 miles to Monument Valley. When we got there, it was around 4pm and the lighting was perfect for picture taking. Unfortunately, today was apparently the one day they had closed the road early so the employees could have some special dinner. There's a 17 mile drive around the valley that you can drive on your own, so it's not clear why they had to close it. As we got out of our cars (having just discovered that the road was closed), two guys in a tour truck asked us if we wanted to go on their tour, which was just leaving and would take 1.5 hours. I was tempted, but Walendo pointed out that we couldn't leave Libby in a hot car that long, and besides, I didn't like the idea that they could take their truck but we couldn't drive ours, it felt like we were being taken advantage of. So we just walked up to the visitor's center and took some obligatory shots from that view. (We noticed a sign saying "No soliciting for tours" by the entrance.) I wanted to get some shots from interesting angles with stuff in the foreground, but so be it.

Monument Valley

I had seen Monument Valley before and had gone on the drive, but I wanted Walendo to see it. He said now that he'd seen the overlook, he wasn't that disappointed about not being able to drive it. He would have liked it, but compared with the Sedona area, it didn't seem as spectacular. As we got back to the car, an older man came up to us to ask us why it was closed, so we got to talking with him. Or, he got to telling us his story. He had been here the day before with his wife but he wanted to come back again to take a few more pictures. While he was talking, I noticed a little hill outside the gate where I could get a few shots with some cactus in the foreground so I went off to do that while Walendo chatted with the guy some more. When I got back, he was continuing to tell his story, about someone getting their keys locked in the trunk of a new Cadillac and how they took the back seat out to open the trunk. As he talked, I decided to get the Elph and document the Visitor's Center and the sign saying it was closed early today, the one day we were here. By the time I got back, the man had left. I have a theory about people now. It seems that many people are perfectly happy to talk about themselves and don't have any impulse to make it an exchange or ask about you. They just like to talk about themselves. I find that odd. It doesn't bother Walendo, though.

Road outside Monument Valley

Disappointed, we decided to continue on with our plan to head toward Telluride. There's a scenic drive to get there, and it wouldn't make any sense to drive it in the dark, so we figured we'd go to Cortez, Colorado, which was about 100 miles from Monument and about 75 from Telluride. We stopped once to take pictures of other Monument-like structures outside the park. The lighting was gorgeous and we were heading west, so the whole area was lit up as we drove. I didn't have much of an impulse to take pictures, since there's not a lot of subject matter, it's more of a whole range of mountains with lots of curving and jagged edges all brought out in detail by the deep shadows from the late afternoon sun. We decided to take a shorter route on smaller (gray and black) roads, which took us past some interesting curving rock formations. Mostly we listened to Angle of Repose as we enjoyed the scenery. I admit I was feeling a little disappointed that both of our plans for the day had been thwarted a bit (Cathedral Rock wasn't what I expected and then we came all this way to see Monument Valley, and it was closed). But I was glad that our plan took us toward Colorado, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

We rolled into Cortez, Colorado after dark. We had crossed a time zone, so we lost an hour, so it was really about 9pm when we arrived. We checked into the Best Western (Turquoise Inn & Suites), which again took dogs. (We tried the Super 8 first and they did not.) It's great that BW so often takes them. They were practially full, so the woman wound up giving us a suite with a jucuzzi for $71, down from $108, which was very nice of her. The room is quite nice, very luxurious for us.

Main Street Brewery Cortez, CA

We changed quickly and then went out for dinner. We ate at the Main Street Brewery, which was quite good. (I had quite a bit of trouble parallel parking in front of it, which is unusual for me. As I was struggling, some guys drove by in a car yelling something, which I took to be "get out of the way" or something. Oh well.) Walendo had some giant ribs and I had a burger, which was also giant and very good. (They asked how I wanted it cooked, which gives you a sense that it was a "real" hamburger.) The fries were also especially good. I don't know why we were so hungry, but we were (though I did save some burger for Libby). Enough to get a big chocolate brownie concoction for dessert. (That was pretty good, not great.) The waitress was very friendly, too. Walendo got some coffee and was admiring his mug, which said "Main Street Brewery, Cortez Colorado" on it, while I pointed out that the back of it said "Marry a woman with brains enough for two and you'll come out even." We both got a kick out of that, and he decided to buy one. I went to the bathroom as we left and when I came back, he didn't have the mug. He had wavered on it, even though it was just $5. I urged him to go back to get it, so he did.

Libby curled up in Cortez hotel suite

We drove back home and then settled into our luxurious suite. Walendo took advantage of the jacuzzi and settled in, while Libby curled up on her bed which Walendo had put in the closet nook. They both looked adorable, but he wouldn't let me take a picture. Once again, he's curled up reading (this time on the couch in the living room part of the suite) while I checked email (still no more chapters to review) and wrote up the events of the day. Tomorrow, we may try to go to Mesa Verde National Park where they have Anasazi ruins, but again, since it's a National Park, we can't take Libby on any walks, so we'll have to see how accessible it is. Otherwise, we'll just head to Telluride and spend the afternoon either hiking in the area or checking out the town.

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